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​TOO MANY PILLS | ON THE FRONT LINE OF IDAHO'S OPIOID CRISIS

7 KTVB

Ada County Coroner Dotti Owens is on the front line of Idaho's opioid crisis."Our cooler is constantly full," Owens said. "When we come in from a weekend we generally are out of room for bodies. We don't want to keep picking up the overdoses."Owens says so far this year there have been 25 opioid overdose deaths in Ada County alone. That's roughly one overdose every five days.

"​A majority of cannabis dispensaries in Colorado recommended their products to women posing as pregnant customers with morning sickness, clashing with doctors' warnings about the potential harms, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology."

"The federal government has ended a national registry designed to provide information to the public about evidence-based mental health and substance use interventions and programs."Read more here

​Has the opioid epidemic reached Idaho? Not like what’s seen back East

Idaho Statesman

"Idaho health officials hope a new source of federal funding will assist efforts to fight back against opioid addiction, overdoses and deaths."Read more here

​Idaho ranks 5th in volunteerism

Spokesman-Review

​Idaho ranks fifth in the nation in volunteering, according to the latest report on volunteerism by the Corporation for National and Community Service.Read more here

As with Prince, baby boomers’ chronic pain means risk of opioid abuse

​Spokesman Review

"BRADENTON, Fla. – When music legend Prince died in April from an overdose of fentanyl, it looked like just another example of celebrity excess. But his death is more a cautionary tale for some of his peers: aging baby boomers."Read more here

​House passes package of bills to fight opioid addiction

USA Today

"WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan package of bills to battle America's growing epidemic of painkiller abuse and heroin addiction, but the White House said the legislation won't accomplish much unless Congress provides more than $1 billion to fund the new programs."Read more here

FDA requires 'black box' warning on painkillers

CNN

"In an attempt to help slow the prescription drug abuse epidemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that immediate-release opioid painkillers such as oxycodone and fentanyl will now have to carry a "black box" warning about the risk of abuse, addiction, overdose and death."Read more here

Prescription drug use is on the rise in U.S.​

​Idaho advocates, state fight opioid addiction​

Idaho Statesman

"For Monica Forbes, 46, it took hitting rock bottom to turn her life around.“It just happened by accident,” the Boise woman said in a phone interview. “. . . And nobody ever said, ‘Hey, you might have a problem, Monica.’”Read more here

​A VACCINE THAT MAKES YOUR BODY DESTROY OPIOIDS

Popular Science

"They’ve developed a vaccine that could block the opioid high altogether, and eradicate the patient’s desire to seek it."Read more here

Rite Aid to Offer Naloxone Without Prescription in 13 States

Business Wire

"Rite Aid announced today that naloxone, a medication that can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, is now available at their pharmacies in 13 states without a prescription, subject to state regulations. Previously, naloxone, which can be administered by injection or nasal spray, was only available with a physician’s prescription."Read more here

"Teens in rural communities are 35 percent more likely to have abused prescription painkillers in the past year than adolescents living in large cities."​Read more here

Teen heroin addict recovers with agency’s help

The Seattle Times

"As a student at Federal Way High School, Daniel Taylor wanted to stand out. He was on the swim team and in student government, worked a full-time job and enrolled in a program that let him take community-college classes as a junior."Read more here

​Potent Synthetic Drug Exacerbates Heroin Epidemic in New York City

The Wall Street Journal

"Officials confronting New York City’s surge in heroin trafficking said the past year has brought a troubling trend—a large influx of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin."Read more here

F.D.A. Approves a Nasal Spray to Combat Opioid Overdose

New York Times

"A nasal spray designed to reverse opioid overdoses won approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday, expanding the options for treating drug overdoses without medical training."Read more here

​2 well-intentioned changes likely jumpstarted the opioid epidemic

Business Insider

"Abuse of opium products obtained from poppy plants dates back centuries, but today we are witnessing the first instance of widespread abuse of legal, prescribed drugs that, while structurally similar to illicit opioids such as heroin, are used for sound medical practices."​Read more here

Hawaii Becomes First State To Raise Smoking Age To 21

Huff Post

"Hawaii will ring in the new year by becoming the first state in the nation to raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21."Read more here.

Chemical flavorings found in e-cigarettes linked to lung disease

Harvard gazette

Diacetyl, a flavoring chemical linked to cases of severe respiratory disease, was found in more than 75 percent of flavored electronic cigarettes and refill liquids tested by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.Read more here

‘Chasing the Dragon’: FBI film aims to reach kids before drug addiction does

The Washington Post

"The faces on the screen are a cross-section of suburban America. One is an eagle scout. Another is a cheerleader. There’s a mother of an infant child and a corporate account executive clearing six figures a year."Read more here.

Primary care docs are leading prescribers of narcotic painkillers

Physicians Digest

"Americans continue to be plagued by an epidemic of prescription narcotic painkiller abuse, and a new study finds primary care physicians are by far the biggest prescribers of the drugs."Read more here.